1 Thessalonians 4:4
in 1 Thessalonians 4each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
KJV
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
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This verse in 1 Thessalonians 4
Commentary
16 notes on this verseThat everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel,.... By which may be meant, either a man's wife, or his body, and it is not very easy to determine which, for the Jews call both by this name. Sometimes they call (p) a woman גולם, which the gloss says is a "vessel" unfinished. It is reported (q), that when R. Eleazar died, Rabbenu Hakkadosh would have married his widow, and she would not, because she was כלי של קדושה, "a vessel of holiness", greater than he.
This site's exposition
that you should be holy
on 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
God's will is stated flatly, that you should be holy, and its first application is bodily: You must abstain from sexual immorality, written to converts in a pagan port. The phrase know how to control his own body is read two ways since the fathers, his body kept in holiness and honor, or his wife, and the verb ktasthai serves either. Either way the contrast is verse 5, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.
This site's exposition
control his own body
The Berean text renders the phrase control his own body, one of the two readings named at verse 3. John Wesley and Adam Clarke take the vessel as a man's wife, and John Gill finds the choice hard to settle. Wesley adds that the rule calls for knowledge too.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
Gregory said, 'God asks three things of anyone who is baptized: to keep the true faith with all his soul and all his might; to control his tongue; to be chaste in his body.'
There are, then, many kinds of lusts for this or that, but when the word is used by itself without specification it suggests to most people the lust for sexual excitement. Such lust does not merely invade the whole body and outward members. It takes such complete and passionate possession of the whole man, both physically and emotionally, that what results is the keenest of all pleasures on the level of sensation. And at the crisis of excitement, it practically paralyzes all power of deliberate thought.This is so true that it creates a problem for every lover of wisdom and holy joys, who is both committed to a married life and also conscious of the apostolic ideal, that every one should "learn how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God." Any such person would prefer, if this were possible, to beget his children without suffering disordered passion. He could wish that, just as all his other members obey his reason in the performance of their appointed tasks, so the genital organs, too, might function in obedience to the orders of will and not be inordinately excited by the ardors of lust.
It is quite possible to pass decisive sentences on vessels and on instruments, to the extent that they participate in the merits of their proprietors and employers.… For every vessel or every instrument becomes useful by external manipulation, consisting as it does of material which is quite extraneous to the substance of the human owner or employer. However, the flesh, being conceived, formed and generated along with the soul from its earliest existence in the womb, is mixed up with the soul likewise in all of its operations. For, although it is called "a vessel" by the apostle, such as he commands to be treated "with honor," yet it is designated by the same apostle as "the outward man." This is the clay, of course, which at first was inscribed with the title of a man, not of a cup, or a sword or any common vessel.
For although it is called "a vessel" by the apostle, such as he enjoins to be treated "with honour," it is yet designated by the same apostle as "the outward man," -that clay, of course, which at the first was inscribed with the title of a man, not of a cup or a sword, or any paltry vessel.
"That each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles which know not God." He says, "That each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel." It is, then, a matter to be learnt, and that diligently, not to be wanton. But we possess our vessel, when it is pure; when it is impure, sin possesses it. And reasonably. For it does not do the things which we wish, but what sin commands. "Not in the passion of lust," he says. Here he shows also the manner, according to which one ought to be temperate; that we should cut off the passions of lust. For luxury, and wealth, and idleness, and sloth, and ease, and all such things, lead us on to irregular lust. "Even as the Gentiles," he says, "which know not God." For such are they who do not expect that they shall suffer punishment.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
Warn the Lord's people, therefore, and beg them to abound in good works, to renounce vice, not to enkindle the fires of passion—I shall not say on the sabbath, but in every season. Let them not destroy their bodies. Let there be no immorality and uncleanness in the servants of God, because we are the servants of the unblemished Son of God. Let each one know himself and possess his vessel, and when the soil of the body has been ploughed, let him wait for the fruit in due season. Let his hand not cultivate thorns and thistles.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He calls the body a vessel. When we are temperate, the body is also pure, and we have mastery over it; but when it is impure, sin has mastery over it. For whatever sin commands, the body does, like a slave. Properly speaking, it is …
But also with regard to your wife, deny yourself honorably; that each one of you know how to take his vessel, that is his wife, in holiness, denying yourself pleasure for a time, and in honor, not in the passion of lust, that is, do …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That every one know - For this requires knowledge, as well as chastity. To possess his vessel - His wife. In sanctification and honour - So as neither to dishonour God or himself, nor to obstruct, but further, holiness; remembering, marriage is not designed to inflame, but to conquer, natural desires.
Whereas the contrary will be a great dishonour. And his reproach shall not be wiped away, Prov. vi. The body is here called the vessel of the soul, which dwells therein (so 1 Sam. xxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
How to possess his vessel - Let every man use his wife for the purpose alone for which God created her, and instituted marriage. The word σκευοςanswers to the Hebrew כלי keli, which, though it signifies vessel in general, has several other meanings. That the rabbins frequently express wife by it, Schoettgen largely proves; and to me it appears very probable that the apostle uses it in that sense here. St. Peter calls the wife the weaker Vessel, 1Pe 3:7. Others think that the body is meant, which is the vessel in which the soul dwells.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The emphatical position of "his own" in the Greek, and the use of "vessel" for wife, in 1Pe 3:7, and in common Jewish phraseology, and the correct translation "acquire," all justify this rendering. in sanctification-- (Ro 6:19;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel - The word “vessel” here (σκεῦος skeuos), probably refers to the body. When it is so used, it is either because the body is frail and feeble, like an earthen vessel, easily broken 2Co 4:7, or because it is that which contains the soul, or in which the soul is lodged. Lucret. Lib. iii. 441. The word vessel also (Greek σκεῦος skeuos) was used by the latter Hebrews to denote a wife, as the vessel of her husband. Schoettg. Hor. Heb. p. 827. Compare Wetstein in loc. Many, as Augustine, Wetstein, Schoettgen, Koppe, Robinson (Lex.), and others, have supposed that this is the reference here; compare 1Pe 3:7. The word body, however, accords more naturally with the usual signification of the word, and as the apostle was giving directions to the whole church, embracing both sexes, it is hardly probable that he confined his direction to those who had wives. It was the duty of females, and of the unmarried among the males, as well as of married men, to observe this command. The injunction then is, that we should preserve the body pure; see the notes on 1Co 6:18-20. In sanctification and honour - Should not debase or pollute it; that is, that we should honor it as a noble work of God, to be employed for pure purposes; notes, 1Co 6:19.
The words behind it
11 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἰδέναι | eidenai | to know | ||
| ἕκαστον | hekaston | each | G1538 → | |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you [how] | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑαυτοῦ | he'autou | his own | G1438 → | 322 times |
| σκεῦος | skeuos | vessel | G4632 → | |
| κτᾶσθαι | ktasthai | to control | G2932 → | |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἁγιασμῷ | hagiasmo | holiness | G38 → | 10 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τιμῇ, | timea | honor, | G5092 → |
εἰδέναιto know
eidenai
ἕκαστονeach
hekastonG1538 →
ὑμῶνof you [how]
humonG4771 →2973 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ἑαυτοῦhis own
he'autouG1438 →322 times
σκεῦοςvessel
skeuosG4632 →
κτᾶσθαιto control
ktasthaiG2932 →
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ἁγιασμῷholiness
hagiasmoG38 →10 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τιμῇ,honor,
timeaG5092 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 12:1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Romans 6:13
Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of…
- Hebrews 13:15–16
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
- Romans 6:19
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now…
- Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
- 1 Peter 2:5
Through
1 Peter 3:7Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
- Genesis 2:23–24
And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
- Colossians 3:19
Through
Hebrews 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Genesis 2:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Thessalonians
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 2: To Constantius; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 14.16; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Thessalonians 5; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 16; Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Thessalonians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Thessalonians.